Voiceless Princess
by Londy the Fanatic
Summary: The kingdom of the princess without a voice captures the fascination of many. For Tino Väinämöinen, a wandering adventurer, the allure of such a mysterious person is too much to just ignore.
1. Prologue

-Prologue-

"Mathias! Mathias, get back here this instant! You can't just abandon everything like this!"

The young man with wild hair glanced back for only a moment, shouting his refusal before scooping up his youngest brother and dashing off into the woods with another by his side. The best efforts of his pursuers were fruitless; despite their initial pleading and then their dogged chasing, the three rogue princes had managed to escape the castle and run out of sight. It was with great trepidation that the group of knights dispatched to chase them down returned back to the castle, internally bracing themselves for the king's certain rage.

The fellow unfortunate enough to have been chosen to inform their sovereign of what happened nearly had his head sliced off there in the throne room and had quickly absconded soon after. The king's head adviser was called in to try and diffuse his temper.

"-Such blatant disrespect, disregard for the kingdom, disregard for the man that raised them! They are no longer any sons of mine, I assure you!' he roared, slashing a family portrait with his gleaming sword. The adviser approached carefully, the calm little smile on his face wavering only once when the painting clattered to the ground.

"Sire, I am understanding your anger. But please, we have more pressing issue at hand right now," he began. The king laughed coldly.

"A more pressing matter than my three sons abandoning the kingdom. Please, Braginski, do tell what could be a greater concern than that," he asked mockingly.

Ivan Braginski pressed on, seemingly unfazed by his superior's tone. "Well, yes. There is a problem of the heir to your throne... Our earlier plan, obviously, cannot be going through as is now."

"Obviously."

"Not without adjustments, at least. It may still work, just with someone else..."

The king raised an eyebrow- he sheathed his sword, much to his adviser's relief- and crosses his arms. "There is no one else. Lukas was the only option."

Ivan gestured at the slight-looking figure standing in the doorway. "You have another child, sire."

"What?! That's ridiculous. If not in appearance than in character, it would never work-"

"There are no other options right now. Unless you are having yet another child whom you told no one about?" Ivan asked, blinking innocently and staring. The king's face reddened.

"Keep that up and I'll have your head on a platter," he muttered. "But I see your point. I don't like it... Though I suppose I don't have much of a choice. How soon can you have things ready?"

Ivan's face brightened. "Give me a month and the kingdom will have princess," he replies cheerfully.

The king nodded curtly before disappearing to his chambers.

From the doorway, a child never meant to be a princess watched in silence.

* * *

**AN:** So here I am attempting a full-length story. Dear lord have mercy. The title started out as just a tentative thing to refer to this story as but I couldn't think of anything better so here you go. (I think it sounds like the name of a Vocaloid song.) I make no promises about update speed, but with any luck I'll have another chapter posted before my birthday in June. I do have a rough idea of the general plot written up, so maybe that'll help? We'll see. I've never done this before. Also trying to write Ivan's accent out is going to be the death of me I'm terrified that I'm horribly fucking it up aaaaaaaaaaaah.


	2. Chapter 1

Tino Vainamoinen was far too used to running for his life.

He'd been close, so very close, to absconding from that bakery with just a loaf of bread when his little dog Hana had decided it a good time to knock over a stack of porcelien dishes. Stealth had quickly gone to hell soon after when the portly bakery owner burst into the back room, saw Tino, and shouted bloody murder as the young man scrambled out of the window he'd came through. How was he supposed to have known the bakery had been making a wedding cake for some noble or other? How could he have known that five men on horseback would come thundering after him through crowded cobblestone streets? Not that he hadn't dealt with similar situations before, but this time around he'd been taken completely by surprise and almost gotten himself caught before making it onto the main street.

Normally he did his best not to disturb civilians who were just minding their own buisness and trying to get through their day. Polite little "excuse me's" and "on your left, ma'am"s were no option then, however, and Tino pushed and shoved his way through the crowds in a desperate bid to get out of the town and into the forest. That was where he was at his best; among the trees and wild animals, he could easily hide and loose his pursuers. If he got into the forest, at least. He was having far too many close calls with the horsemen for his liking.

"All this for a loaf of bread?" Tino thought as he approached the town limits. With a final adrenaline-fueled push he dashed into the woods and immediately began searching for a good tree, one with plenty of branches and leaves. Hana barked in alarm as the sound of hoofbeats and the sound of angry men drew closer and closer. Trying not to let panic cloud his judgement and get the better of him, Tino began to haul himself and his dog up a tall oak tree. He could hear the horses thunder into the forest soon after he'd managed to get himself off the ground. Hana shushed with a sharp whisper from her master as he continued to pull them higher and higher.

Once Tino couldn't climb more without risking breaking a branch, he settled down and held his breath as the horsemen looked around.

"Ye sure he ran in here?" one asked. " 'e was a slight fellow. Could've slipped back into town."

"I'm damn sure. Where else could he have gone?" another said.

"Yer damn sure about a lot. Ya ain't got a good track record, either. I say we go back. Not like 'e stole the crown jewels," the first man replied. He was met with a murmuring of agreement.

"Oh, fine then. But you're dealin' with that sweaty baker," the second man grumbled. The men turned their horses around and began to head back for town.

Tino stayed put in the tree until he could no longer hear arguing and horses whinnying. When all was quiet again, he breathed a sigh of relief and descended from his place in the tree.

"Looks like we made it again, girl," he said, tearing off a piece of bread and tossing it in the air once he was on the groung again. Hana yipped and jumped up to catch it. "You need to be more careful, though! Those dishes almost hurt you and we were nearly arrested!" Tino scolded lightly. Hana rubbed her head against his leg, looking up at him and looking every bit the puppy she was. Tino relented and scooped her up, holding her to his chest. He surveyed the forest he'd run into. It was thick and dense, tree foliage preventing much light from hitting the forest floor. Still, berries and flowers were abundant and the place was most likely home to all kinds of animals. And that meant food. Food that, most importantly, he wouldn't have to steal. Perfect.

* * *

"Miss Svea! It is the time for your meeting with the barbarians!"

Ivan Braginski sounded was cheerful, but anyone who'd ever dealt with him before knew that this voice was a step away from quite possibly the most terrifyingly commanding tone you woud ever hear. Servants cowered and focused intently on their work as the childish looking man strode past.

He checked in a few of the princess's usual "hiding places", as he'd dubbed them, before coming across her outside in the stables.

The princess was a very striking looking young woman. She was incredibly tall, statuesque, and her gaze was sharp and intimidating. Long blonde hair reached down her back and tended to fall in her face, hence why she always wore a flowered clip to hold at least part of it back. Her attire mainly consisted of high necked, sweeping gowns and long gloves regardless of the weather. And while many people wondered how she put up with the stuffy looking clothing, the princess never seemed bothered by her dresses. Ivan told everyone that the long dresses were necessary; the princess, he said, was quick to succumb to cold and fall ill. The high necklines were to help protect her delicate throat. Was it not bad enough that she was unable to speak?

"Sveaaaaa! The barbarians are coming today. I tell you this yesterday, why are you not getting ready?" Ivan asked, placing a hand on the princess's shoulder and gently turning her around. Svea glared at him over her glasses.

"Oh, I am knowing that you do not like me calling them barbarians. But that it was they are, yes? Anyways, you have to be getting inside now. They will be here soon and I do not wish to deal with them by myself. Come on now," he said in response, lightly tugging her out of the stables and back towards the castle. Svea jerked away from him. Ivan's expression flashed dark for a brief moment.

"Miss Svea. You are aware that I have no choice with this, correct? It is not your fault, but not mine either," he said lowly, glancing around to make sure that no one was about to hear him. "You must be cooperating. For your own sake."

Svea clenched her hands into fists before taking a deep breath and nodding.

"Good!" Ivan said happily. He quickly returned to his usual unsettlingly demeanor and resumed walking towards the castle, Svea following close behind.

It was going to be a long day and they both knew it.

* * *

AN: And voila, chapter one! It's a bit shorter than I intended, but after a bit of deliberation I decided to spilt what I'd wrote up into two chapters. And you know what that means; next update will be coming shortly. Wheeeee.

So now we have met our protagonists, who are currently at complete opposite ends of the social spectrum. And Hana. Hana's there. Hana's cute. I like Hana.

Give yourself ten brownie points if you spot the little reference in this chapter.


End file.
